Geoffrey Miller looks at New Zealand’s growing relationship with the Middle East and North Africa – and contemplates its future Amidst New Zealand’s level 4 coronavirus lockdown in March, all but a handful of the country’s troops stationed in Iraq returned home, three months earlier than scheduled. The New Zealand personnel had been deployed to …
Over the past 30 years, ministerial responsibility for New Zealand’s foreign affairs has changed hands remarkably rarely. Since 1990, just four individuals have dominated the portfolio – Don McKinnon (1990-1999), Phil Goff (1999-2005), Winston Peters (2005-8 and again from 2017 to 2020) and Murray McCully (2008-2017). Only two others have held the role, and then …
News is not in short supply in the Middle East, and at the weekend, Arabic-language media remained firmly focused on the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh. Nevertheless, the New Zealand election – and above all Jacinda Ardern’s personal success – still received significant attention from Arabic-language TV news channels, newspapers and particularly on …
By Geoffrey Miller New Zealand should continue to champion human rights in Belarus amidst an ongoing crackdown on protests by the country’s regime, former Prime Minister Helen Clark says. Protests in Belarus – often referred to as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’ – erupted after the country’s disputed presidential elections on August 9 and are now entering …
By Geoffrey Miller A former Minister of Defence says the government was too slow to involve the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) in New Zealand’s response to Covid-19. But Wayne Mapp, a National MP from 1996-2011 who served as Minister of Defence for three years during John Key’s first term as Prime Minister, told the …
By Geoffrey Miller Winston Peters has made his first comments on the ongoing crisis in Belarus, following rigged elections in the country often referred to as ‘Europe’s last dictatorship’. Belarus’s President, Alexander Lukashenko, is refusing to give up power despite days of mass protests following presidential elections that have been widely seen as fraudulent. Official …
New Zealand needs to speak out against allegations of mass torture and brutality in Belarus following the Eastern European country’s recent elections, a Belarusian national living in New Zealand says. Last Sunday’s election – which saw strongman Alexander Lukashenko claim 80% of the vote in a result that is widely seen as fraudulent – has …
By Geoffrey Miller Prominent refugee advocate Murdoch Stephens says he is disappointed by Judith Collins’ reaction to Immigration New Zealand’s decision to grant refugee status to Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani. Judith Collins told media last month that “there’s a lot of concern in New Zealand about what they see as queue jumping and so I’m …
By Geoffrey Miller A former MP and Associate Minister of Defence says that New Zealand’s Covid-19 border and quarantine issues illustrate why a new dedicated national security agency is needed. Heather Roy, a former deputy leader of the Act Party who held the associate defence portfolio from 2008-10, told the Democracy Project podcast that a …
By Geoffrey Miller A New Zealand academic specialising in Latin America believes that NZ’s relationship with Latin America will remain strong, even if direct flights do not immediately resume to the continent after the immediate coronavirus crisis subsides. Nikita Kent, a Victoria University of Wellington graduate who studied in Peru and recently completed a UN …
The Peruvian government knows it cannot afford a health epidemic. In early March, Peru took quick and decisive action to combat the coronavirus. If preventative action is not taken, the overall hygiene practices and health status of Peruvians give rise to the perfect circumstances for devastating rates of coronavirus cases and mortalities. As of April …
By Geoffrey Miller A New Zealand-based academic from Iran says the coronavirus pandemic is unlikely to spark fundamental change in the country. Iran was one of the first countries outside China to see a major outbreak of the coronavirus. Figures from Johns Hopkins University on Sunday showed there were 35,408 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in …
Australia’s policy of deporting New Zealand born – but Australian raised – citizens has been a source of political tension for years. But Jacinda Ardern’s step of fronting Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, in the most calculated and public way possible, took it to a new level. Until now, Ardern has played nicey nicey with foreign leaders, …
A meeting with US president Donald Trump was always a fraught proposition for New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern. It was never going to deliver any clear wins, and was unlikely to do her progressive reputation any favours. And that’s the outcome – Ardern’s reputation has probably taken a hit, at least among her own …